Wealth Enhancement Group

Financial planning is all about living the life you want to live. A comfortable retirement might be your ultimate goal, but what does that look like for you? Beyond that, how do you expect to get there?

You need a financial action plan, and no plan is complete without a starting point. After all, you can only plan to reach a destination if you know from where you're starting.

In this first of three articles on creating a solid financial action plan, we'll cover three steps to find your starting point. So, let's get started.

1. Take Inventory of Your Finances
You may have never sat down and taken the time to figure out how much money you have. And we're not talking about balancing your checkbook-we're talking about your total net worth.

Start by thinking about your "safe" money, which has no risk of principal. This is the money in your checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs. CDs and bank products are FDIC insured to specific limits and offer a fixed rate of return if held to maturity. Add up everything you have in these accounts and write it down.

Then, move on to your investments. What do you have in your 401(k)? Do you have an IRA? Do you have an employer-sponsored plan? If so, how many do you have? What about other investments like 529 Plans, properties or second homes, or precious metals like gold and silver? Investments are usually a bit harder to add up. Still, you'll likely be getting quarterly or year-end statements from your various financial holdings, so hold on to them and use those documents as the basis for your inventory.

Finally, if you know the basics of creating a balance sheet, you know it's about keeping track of your assets and liabilities. What kinds of liabilities do you have? Do you have a mortgage or an auto loan? Maybe you have unpaid medical bills. What about student loan debt? Are your credit cards paid off?

A solid financial action plan will use all of this to help you determine your starting point.

Continue reading on the website.

Select for more »